Some existing systems can be used to automatically control movement of vehicle systems during a trip to reduce fuel consumption and/or emission generation relative to manual control of the vehicle systems.
However, increased use of automatic control can lead to a decrease in the skill and the alertness of vehicle operators. Existing systems for addressing operator alertness typically require operators to respond to audio or visual prompts at predetermined intervals to ensure the operators are alert during manual control of the vehicle. Operators who are alert may find the prompts unnecessarily intrusive and obstructive to control of the vehicles. The requirement to repeatedly respond to the prompts, even in light of the operators being aware, can serve as an additional distraction to the same operation of the vehicles. Furthermore, these existing systems do little to nothing to prevent decreasing of operator skills.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.